Patriots 1st Black Coach Jerod Mayo Reveals View on Racism: 'I Do See Color'
It took the team hitting rock bottom via the worst season in 30 years and a legend mutually agreeing to leave, but for the first time in their storied 64-year history the New England Patriots have a Black head coach.
With the introduction of Jerod Mayo - who replaces six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick - the Patriots finally broke the color barrier. Mayo becomes the NFL's youngest head coach at age 37, and its fourth Black coach along with Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers), Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans). The Miami Dolphins' Mike McDaniel has a Black father and identifies as multiracial.
Though Patriots owner Robert Kraft downplayed Mayo's skin color at Wednesday's press conference at Gillette Stadium, the new head coach tackled the topic of race with full force.
"I'm really color blind," said Kraft. "I want to get the best people I can get. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he's best to do the job."
In a league where roughly 60 percent of the players are Black, the hiring of Mayo leaves 12 teams - including the Super Bowl-favorite Baltimore Ravens and uber-popular Dallas Cowboys - that have never hired a Black coach.
"You better believe being the first black head coach here in New England means a lot to me," Mayo said. "I do see color, because I believe if you don't see color you can't see racism.
"Whatever happens, Black, White, disabled person - even someone with disabilities, for the most part people are like - when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means. But what I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is, Black, White, yellow, it really doesn't matter, but it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have."
Mayo's strategy to publicly address an issue most in the NFL shy away from drew praise from a former star and one of the greatest quarterbacks in college football history.
"He isn’t scared to say it with his chest," said Robert Griffin III on Twitter. "He is STANDING ON BUSINESS."
Super Bowl XLI in 2007 was the first to feature two Black head coaches. But that game between Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears and Tony Dungy's Indianapolis Colts turned out to be an outlier rather than the dawn of a new era.
There are seven coaching openings in the NFL and among Black candidates mentioned are Eric Bieniemy (Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator), Aaron Glenn (Detroit Lions' defensive coordinator), Brian Flores (Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator), Raheem Morris (Los Angeles Rams' defensive coordinator) and Steve Wilks (San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator).
